Big Dude's Eclectic Ramblings: Pork Tamales and Tacos

Sunday, November 15, 2026

Pork Tamales and Tacos

About a month ago Bev decided she wanted to try making tamales so we made a trip to La Lupita Mexican Store and Restaurant in Maryville to buy the supplies. After looking around the web, I settled on a recipe for Pork Tamales from the “Isabel Eats” blog. To reduce the heat amount, I omitted the guajillo peppers and just used the ancho's. After reading the recipe, rather than making a long day of it making the tamales, I decided to cook the meat a couple of days ahead.

And since we were only making a half recipe of tamales and I made a full recipe of meat, we decided to turn some of it into tacos for supper. We only had flour tortillas and for toppings, we used chopped onion, shredded cabbage, sour cream, and guacamole – this is my plate and thanks to Zepbound, it filled me up

Not impressive looking but they were delicious thanks to the outstanding meat flavor and they needed no other toppings.

Pork Tamales

FOR THE FILLING

Ingredients:

~~3 ounces guajillo chiles, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded~~

3 ounces ancho chiles, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded

Water, as needed

1½ teaspoons garlic powder

3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

¾ teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

2½ pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into large 4-inch chunks

1 bay leaf

Instructions:

Add the chiles, and enough water to completely cover them in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let the chiles soak for 10 minutes to soften.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the softened chiles to a large blender. Add 1 cup of the chile-soaked water, 1½ cups of fresh water, garlic powder, 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, and ground cumin. Blend until completely smooth. If the sauce is not smooth, pour it through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove any solids.

Cook the pork. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Season the pork with the remaining 1½ teaspoons of kosher salt, then working in 2 batches, add the meat and sear on all sides until browned.

Add all the seared meat back to the pot. Carefully pour in the blended red chile sauce and stir in the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2½ hours until the meat is fall-apart tender then remove to a plate.

Then shred and add back to the sauce.

Next time I'll only use one cup of fresh water in the sauce then add more to the shredded meat as needed. I drained it this time.

FOR THE MASA DOUGH (1/2 recipe)

Ingredients:

4 3/8 cups masa harina

1 tablespoon fine salt

½ tablespoon baking powder

1 cup lard

4 cups broth (we used pork broth from cooking the pork butt bone)

Instructions:

To make the masa using lard - In a large bowl, beat the lard for 1 minute using an electric handheld mixer or a stand mixer until whipped and fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine the masa harina, salt, and baking powder. Add it to the bowl with the lard and mix together to combine. While mixing, slowly add in the broth. Continue to mix until the dough is smooth, fluffy, and has the texture of thick hummus.

FOR THE TAMALES

Ingredients:

25 corn husks (about ½-¾ pound bag)

Hot water, as needed

Masa

Pork

Instructions:

Add the corn husks to a large bowl or pot. Pour enough hot water over the corn husks to cover them completely. Cover the bowl with foil or plastic wrap and let them soak for 1 hour to soften them up.

Drain the water from the corn husks and pat them dry. Lay them flat onto a baking sheet for easy access.

Grab a corn husk and identify which is the smooth side and which is the side with ridges. Place the smooth side face up onto the palm of your hand or on a plate. Grab a heaping spoonful of masa and place it in the middle of the corn husk. Spread it in a thin layer using the back of the spoon to create a large square shape, leaving the top ⅓ of the corn husk empty. (See link above for step-by-step photos)

Place a spoonful of the filling in a line down the center of the dough. You only need a little bit, about 1-2 tablespoons. Try not to overstuff it, or the filling will ooze out when you fold it.

Fold together the long edges of the corn husk like a book, and then fold it once more. Fold the pointy edge up so that only one side of the corn husk is open and exposed. Set aside and continue assembling all of the tamales until you’ve used up all the dough.

Fill the bottom of a large steamer pot with water and bring to a boil.

Place the tamales in the steamer pot with the open end facing up. Lean them against the side of the pot so they don't fall down.

Cover tightly with the lid and place the steamer over the boiling water. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 1½ hours or until the masa is fully cooked.

Remove 1 tamale from the steamer pot. Let it sit for 10 minutes. If the husk peels away easily from the masa, then it’s done. If the masa is still gooey or sticks to the husk, steam it for 15 more minutes, then check again.

Remove the tamales from the pot and let them cool for 10 minutes before serving to help them firm up and make them easier to unwrap.

See breakfast pic below.

The Verdict:

We thought they tasted plenty good but after cooking for an hour, the masa was still not done and we definitely didn't use enough - like most things, tamale making needs practice and some expert coaching would have also been good. However, after cleaning up the big kitchen mess and realizing the Chanchamitos (Chan Chany's) we buy are even better, this will be our last batch on tamales but I will make the meat again for other dishes.

And they were also very good for breakfast topped with a little Salsa Verde, cheese, and fried eggs but still not as good as the Chan Chany's made by an expert.